The Co-Eds (Unspoken Series Part 3)
by TheAfterglow
Summary: He would have to go to the couch. It was the only solution. Yes, he would be a man, and go sleep on the freezing couch. It wasn't as if he hadn't fallen asleep there a million times before, sitting up way too late binging Netflix or grading. It was just one night. Modern Reylo AU. College/University; Male POV; bed-sharing


Ben was folding the afghan on the back of the couch for the fourth time when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He continued smoothing the fading yarn into a neat bundle. The light outside was grey, fading quickly towards dusk, and the storm certainly wasn't helping matters.

He knew it was her again, letting him know her progress towards campus. There had been a string of texts throughout the afternoon as her train became more and more delayed. The first had distracted him as he'd persevered through the last section of the day, earning him a contemptuous eye roll from the scarce audience who'd bothered to slog through the snowy pathways to the lecture hall, their boots slowly dripping icy puddles onto the beige linoleum. Their scorn was enough to make him leave his phone safely in his bag for the rest of the discussion.

It was the last section before finals prep week, and everyone's mind was somewhere else: who was carpooling home, who was staying around for the holidays, where the best party was, and what final would be the toughest. Even he had to admit, his thoughts kept wandering back to Thanksgiving when he was idle for a second.

That had only been three weeks ago. Twenty-one days, five hundred-four hours, thirty thousand two hundred-forty seconds ago.

Not that he was _counting_.

It was nice to have a secret, he discovered. Every time he'd looked at her across the dinner table, she'd flushed a pretty shade of red and he had to shift to subdue the throbbing in his lap.

Since then, though, he'd resolved to keep himself in check. He knew it was getting out of hand when Hux's offhand comment about Rey in the lounge the day before had him ready to strangle the smarmy redhead.

Hux's smile had slowly twisted his lips under his beard when he saw how flustered it made Ben.

"I was just _asking_ , man," Hux chuckled. "You said she's like your sister."

Phasma's raised eyebrow had not escaped his notice either where she curled in the corner, laptop open and knee-high boots propped on the nicked wooden arm of the decrepit chaise.

"She's just visiting to see if she wants to come here next year," he waved his hand dismissively. "My dad insisted, that's all."

"Okay," Hux was still grinning. "So, why can't you come over tomorrow night? Just bring your _not-sister_ with you."

Ben settled on the couch next to the extra pillow he'd set out and drew his phone from his pocket.

 _Almost here! Sry so l8_.

Her messages had been a string of apologies, as though she was personally at fault for the weather.

 _No Hurry, be safe_. The autocorrect made him feel like a moron with its random mis-capitalizations, but he didn't bother to fix it this time.

He surveyed the chaos of his small apartment. It was on the edge of town, in an unhip neighborhood. Fewer students meant lower rent, though. A wilted Easter lily drooped on the windowsill, its pastel foil wrapping a bright spot in the greige of the room. Every apartment he'd had as a student had been done in shades of grey and beige, neutral and anonymous. Stacks of books adorned the end table and a ream of articles he'd printed to read were stuffed in a manila folder under an empty coffee mug.

The snow was piling up fast against the glass of the single-pane windows, and he wondered if she would be warm enough here on the couch. He had dragged out his sleeping bag, the extra sheets, and there was the afghan.

His mother had insisted he take the afghan with him when he'd gone away to college. She had knitted it in a rare fit of domesticity during her pregnancy.

His phone buzzed again.

 _In a cab-be there soon_.

The train station was across town, near the freeway exit. He felt mildly guilty at not offering to pick her up, but that seemed a little too… too what, he wasn't exactly sure. Solicitous? Needy? Obvious?

He lay down on the couch, propping his feet up on one end. It was always peaceful when it snowed, the traffic sounds muffled and the artificial streetlights softened by a haze of swirling snowflakes.

He woke with a start at the sound of his doorbell, not realizing he'd dozed off. It was already fully dark.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered as he peeled himself up and reached the door.

"Hi!" Rey's eyes were bright despite the dusting of snow that already decorated her shoulders and knitted cap pulled low over her eyebrows. She turned around and waved to the cabbie, nice enough to wait at the curb until she got inside. He lifted a hand half-heartedly at the driver. _Thanks, man_.

Snow blew in with her onto his greige carpet and his bare feet, and he slammed the door unnecessarily hard behind her.

"Hey," he nodded in greeting. "Let's hang up your coat in the bathroom- it looks pretty wet."

"Oh my goodness, I thought we might get stuck out there somewhere!" She laughed as she shrugged her shoulders free of her outer garments. "So this is your place, huh? It's nice, very cozy. And just you, right? No roommates?"

He nodded in agreement and watched, amused, as she made a beeline for his bookshelf and crooked her head sideways to read the titles on the spines. It wasn't clear if she was genuinely interested, or just being polite.

A pang struck his middle and for a second, he wondered when he had gotten so cynical. It wasn't like her to be insincere. He was just dreading drawing the line between them.

"Just gonna…" he lifted the dripping jacket towards his hallway. "Put this away."

"Of course," she murmured, distracted by a textbook she had opened and was busy examining.

He slung her jacket over the shower stall door, making sure that the arms would drip into the basin as they melted off. His place was too small to even have a true tub in the bathroom.

Back in the living room, she was already ensconced on his couch, her elbow propped up on the pillow he'd laid out for her.

"You hungry?" He tried. He'd planned for them to go out, but the storm had effectively put that plan to rest. She didn't have proper boots to wade through the snow, and his car was stuck in the carport until the landlord came to snowblow in the morning. He had stopped at a corner store on the slog home from class and procured a wide assortment of instant noodles, chips, and packaged pastries. "I picked up a few things at the store, nothing fancy."

She grinned at him as though he had suggested he were making a gourmet meal. "That sounds amazing."

Despite himself, he smiled back at her. It made him feel warm, seeing her in his place.

She selected the spicy Korean flavor, and he settled for the beef. They doctored the Styrofoam bowls up as best they could, but he apologized repeatedly for the sad state of his kitchen.

She shook her head at him, sucking a long noodle into her mouth. "Whatever, it's delicious. You can't control the weather."

He shrugged. "Those apple turnovers are amazing if you heat them in the toaster oven. There might be some ice cream in the freezer, too."

Her hazel eyes widened at the thought, and she bit her lip in a show of barely-contained anticipation. "Yes, please!"

His back was turned, watching over the pastry, when he got up his nerve.

"I laid out some stuff for you to sleep on the couch," he said. "You should be fine with the sleeping bag and the afghan, but lemme know if you need more blankets or anything."

There was a short pause where her hand stilled from rearranging bags of frozen vegetables and potpies in search of the ice cream.

"Yeah, okay," she said, and the note of disappointment in her voice went straight to his gut.

He peeked over his shoulder at her, and his gut clenched further when he saw how crestfallen she looked. Shit, this was exactly what he had hoped to avoid. Now he felt like a dick.

"It's just…" he tried to recover from it. "I snore? I would hate for you not to come here just because I kept you from sleeping."

"Of course," she said, her voice steady with resolve. "The couch is great, I don't want to keep you from sleeping, either."

He heard her stand suddenly behind him and he whirled back to her.

"Look what I found!" Her eyes were shining as she thrust a tub of Ben & Jerry's towards him. "Ice cream!"

"Good work," he praised her, and the toaster oven dinged.

* * *

He was brushing his teeth before bed when there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Um, I'm really sorry," she looked up at him through her lashes, "But I forgot my pajamas. Can I borrow some?"

"Uh huh," he murmured around the toothbrush. "Just a sec."

"Thanks," she said softly as he turned to spit.

She followed him silently to the doorway of his bedroom, where he yanked the over-stuffed bottom drawer of his dresser open. He handed her a flannel shirt. "This okay?"

"Thanks," she said again, accepting the worn garment. Her eyes flicked over his room. "Well… goodnight." She turned slowly and he heard the bathroom door click as she locked it behind her.

A sudden chill shrugged his shoulders, and he drew the curtain aside to peek outside. The world was a blurry mess without his glasses, but they were on the vanity by the sink. He could see the snow was now a thick layer atop the cars parked along the street and the curbs had become indistinct under the blanket of precipitation.

He padded down the hallway to double-check the lock on the door once more, and paused to squint at the ancient thermostat in the hallway. It was hard to read without glasses in the dim light, but it seemed to be down to the low 60's. Goosebumps were beginning to rise on his bare calves as he slid between the freezing sheets and tried not to shudder as his body slowly warmed them.

He was nearly asleep when he remembered he hadn't bothered to excuse them from Hux's, and grabbed his phone off the side table.

 _Sry cant make it 2nite, got snowed in_ , he tapped out quickly.

Hux's reply popped up before he could lock the screen.

 _Ok loser, Have fun screwing yr sister. Still wanna meet her._

A bead of irritation tightened in his diaphragm. A more clever reply was in order, but he settled on his standard. He could hear water running behind the bathroom door.

 _Haha fuck u._

He locked the screen and replaced the phone, but it lit up a moment later when Hux replied. He stared at it for a long moment before grabbing it to read the message.

 _She wishes_.

He snorted and placed the phone face down to avoid seeing any further irksome texts. The bathroom door opened and he could hear her humming an unrecognizable tune as she nested on the couch.

He recalled, as he drifted off to sleep, how inexplicably delighted Rey had been by snow when she was younger, happily shoveling it by hand from the neighbors' walks. For free.

Han had simply shrugged. "She's from the desert, I guess it's new to her."

The last thing Ben could recall wondering was if he would like the desert.

He woke with a start and sat bolt upright when the telltale squeak in the floorboard by the bed gave her away.

"Rey?" Why did he even ask, as though it could be anyone else.

Her figure was backlit by the blue-white light from the street, and he could make out the outline of her slender legs protruding from the hem of his shirt. She clutched her arms to her torso, hands hidden in the sleeves.

"I think the heat's gone out," she said plainly. "It's freezing on the couch."

He stared at her, thick with sleep. "Do you want me to check it, or…?"

"Maybe I could just…." she trailed off, gesturing with one flannel paw towards him. "If you don't mind?"

He couldn't see her face in the dark. Was she joking? He could see her figure shuddering with cold and despite his resolutions, he shifted over and lifted the edge of the covers for her.

She curled immediately on her side with her back to him, allowing him to place the blanket over her. He mirrored her, pulling the quilt up over his shoulder once more.

The moment their spines touched, he went absolutely still. Even the slight friction of her breathing against him was making him ache. She scissored her legs back and forth, causing him to suck a quick breath when her ice-cold foot brushed his calf.

"Jesus, keep those to yourself!" He whispered as harshly as he could manage. "Your feet are like fucking ice cubes!"

A small giggle escaped her, and the foot receded away from his person. "Sorry, your worship," she whispered.

A retort was on his lips, but he bit down on them and curled into himself, determined to behave. It wasn't how he preferred to sleep, but he supposed he could go to the couch if it came to that. A dull throb in his groin reminded him painfully of things he'd rather be doing than sleeping, but he closed his eyes dutifully and thought of other things. Other, unsexy things like… grading the mountain of term papers sitting in his living room. Or his mentor professor when his dentures had fallen out on their dig last summer. Or... Hux.

The very notion of Hux with Rey lying here beside him made him feel annoyed, deeply annoyed at that shit for insinuating he had some kind of chance with her. Moreover, he was annoyed with himself for being so transparent. _They_ couldn't happen, it wasn't a thing. She was young enough to be his student. Hell, if she came to school here, she might end up in one of his classes, and that would just be…

His dick disagreed with his brain about what exactly it would be.

Eventually she stopped treading with her legs and went still, her breathing evening out until he felt safe turning over to peer at the lump of her beneath the quilt. She was snuggled in so that only the very top of her head was exposed above the covers, her back still to him.

Lying on his back, he dared reach down and quickly adjust himself, hoping to relieve the persistent pulse between his legs.

It was as his hand returned to rest across his stomach that he accidentally brushed the swell of her behind, and he froze to realize his skin was touching hers directly.

What in the name of the Maker? She wasn't wearing any underwear?

Ben stiffened, clenching his eyes shut and clutching a handful of his t-shirt over his navel. He would have to go to the couch. It was the only solution. Yes, he would be a man, and go sleep on the freezing couch. It wasn't as if he hadn't fallen asleep there a million times before, sitting up way too late binging Netflix or grading. It was just one night.

He opened one eye and glanced at her once more before slowly peeling back the covers and rolling towards his side of the bed.

He was almost to the door when her voice stopped him.

"Did I wake you up?" She sounded half-asleep.

"Uh," he felt stupid. "No, I'm just… um, going to the bathroom."

She hummed happily and he shivered as he darted into the bathroom and closed the door behind him without bothering with the light. He waited a few minutes, hoping she'd fall back asleep. It was freezing in the hallway, there was no two ways about it.

He leaned back against the towels hanging on the back of the door and chuckled mirthlessly at his predicament. He was a grown man, hiding in his own bathroom with a raging hard-on for a girl who, for all intents and purposes, should be off-limits to him.

A girl who, his boner was eager to remind him, had crawled into _his_ bed without any panties on.

He stood in the dark for several long moments, clenching and unclenching his fists. His feet quickly grew icy against the tile floor, and he returned to the bedroom once more.

The sheets were still warm when he slid back into bed, molding his body delicately to hers. She snuggled back against him, and a momentary surge of protectiveness overwhelmed him. He was ashamed by his intentions, but he was forever overthinking things. She was right- he was a monster. He decided to turn off his brain for once.

"Are you awake?" She mumbled. "So much warmer now."

He laced his fingers between hers and hugged her closer to him. His manhood was pressed firmly to her lower back. There was no way she couldn't feel it. The collar of his shirt smelled faintly like her shampoo as he nuzzled her neck, and he knew she was fully awake when her breathing became shallow.

"I can think of another way for us to get warm," he murmured against her neck. He had to fight the urge to grind against her, to maintain his patience and let her come to him.

She was silent for an agonizing minute, and he feared he had miscalculated badly.

Rey turned her head back towards him and he captured her lips in a delicious, sloppy kiss. His mouth slanted over hers and his breath stuttered when her quick tongue darted out to find his. She tasted like peppermint, and faintly, of ramen. He moved their hands lower until her hand rested over the cleft between her legs, pressing her own fingers to her naked sex.

"Did you forget something else besides your pajamas?" His mouth never left hers, and he felt drunk at the sensation of her breath against his lips. She moaned softly into his mouth when he moved his hand up, under his own shirt to cup her small tits. Her nipples were already puckered, hard beads beneath his palm, though if it was from cold or his attentions, he couldn't tell.

She squirmed against his touch, arching into his hand and bracing her bottom against his lap. It was too much to bear; the backs her silky, bare legs against his thighs were nearly enough to bring him to climax, and that was unconscionable.

He barely broke their kiss as he slid over her and flattened her beneath him, wrenching his shorts down with a thumbs hooked in the waistband. Her hand found his cock and she whimpered with anticipation as he thrust impatiently into the circle of her thumb and forefinger. He was leaking already, and the friction of her hand felt so, so good yet not enough. Nothing but the strangling, wet heat between her legs would sate him.

He threaded his elbow beneath her knee and pressed her thigh up to her chest, wide open. Her eyes widened with surprise at his eagerness, but he barely felt the bite of her nails into his forearm as he slid deep into her.

"You don't have to be quiet here," he chided her. He sucked at her neck, scratching her with his stubble. He could tell she was stifling herself, but he wanted to hear her, hear how she sounded when she let him rut her. "You like it when I fuck you." It wasn't a question, he knew she did. "I wanna hear you."

She gasped at his crudeness and he sped up his pace, delighting in the sweet grip of her cunt. Despite the chill in the room, he could feel a light sweat breaking out on his back. Her expression looked slightly shellshocked, like she'd woken from a dream straight to this, and he relished it. He knew once wouldn't be enough, but he had to make it count. There was no one to interrupt, nothing to keep her from him this time. It was just them now.

His small bedroom was filled with the muffled sounds of their bodies, the bed frame creaking, and his rapid breathing. Her tentative, soft moans grew louder and more bold with every stroke of his hips, and a smug grin twisted his lips when she broke suddenly with a high, keening wail, clutching at his shoulders and spasming tight around him. He fucked her right through it, chasing his own climax until he followed her a minute later, then collapsed onto her in a shaking, sweaty heap.

Her fingers carded through the hair at the nape of his neck and she peppered the span of his neck with kisses until he gathered the strength to roll off her onto the wet spot that had formed beneath them on his sheets. He dozed off, hoping the storm hadn't knocked out the electricity to the laundry room in the building, too.

The light was grey once more when he woke, and stumbled to the bathroom to relieve himself. It was so cold he would've sworn he could see his breath, and he retrieved his glasses from their spot on the bathroom counter. They fogged slightly as the frames warmed to his skin.

He walked out and surveyed his living room, noting the afghan was still in its resting place on the back of the couch. The sleeping bag was also neatly zipped, and laying out on the length of the cushions.

It almost looked like she hadn't slept there at all.

A sly smile crossed his lips. She hadn't slept much in his bed, either.

The sun was beginning to break through the clouds, and he crossed his arms to examine the thermostat once more. The dial read 51 degrees, much too cold for indoors, and he was about to turn away to phone the landlord when something caught his eye.

What the…?

He thumbed the control on the bottom of the unit, feeling it click into place in the 'on' position. The heat roared to life, pinging the vents as they warmed to the air rushing through them. He turned slowly back to the room and looked at the couch, eyes narrowed in contemplation.

Just then he heard a rustle down the hall and he peeked around the corner just in time to see Rey's flannel back disappearing into the bathroom. The lock clicked on the door behind her.

Ben simply stared at it.

* * *

A/N: Oh, Ben. Why are you fighting this so hard!? XD

Thanks as always for reading! I'm finally on Tumblr as theafterglow-writes, if you want to hit me up on there or give this a rec - I'd really appreciate it!


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